Ludography
Marchen Maze cover

1988 · Namco · Platformer · Shooter

Marchen Maze

In Märchen Maze ("Märchen" is German for "fairytale"), the player takes control of a little girl named Alice who has been pulled in to a magical world by a white rabbit. It was originally released to the Arcade before being ported to the PC Engine and Sharp X68000. It would also be added to the Japanese Wii's Virtual Console in 2009.

Released
1 July 1988
Platforms
ArcadeNintendo SwitchSharp X68000TurboGrafx-16Wii
Genres
PlatformerShooter
Developers
Namco
Publishers
Namco
Perspective
Bird view / Isometric
Themes
Fantasy
Country
Japan
Age ratings
CERO A

About

Märchen Maze is a 1988 platform video game developed by N.H. System and published by Namco for arcades. Controlling a young girl named Alice, the player must complete each of the game's nine stages while avoiding enemies and falling off ledges. Alice can blow powerful bubbles at enemies to knock them back, and can hit them enough times to send them off the platform. It is the first Japanese video game adaptation of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and runs on the Namco System 1 arcade board.

H. System, a short-lived subsidiary of Namco, with character design by famed anime director Katsuhiko Nishijima. It is Namco's second game to feature a female protagonist, following Wonder Momo. The word Märchen (pronounced [ˈmɛːɐ̯çn̩] MEH-kh'n) is the German word for "fairy tale".

Keywords

  • anime
  • robots
  • rabbit
  • fairytale
  • playing cards
  • cat
  • food-themed stage
  • wii virtual console
  • alice in wonderland
  • based on - fairy tale

Media

Marchen Maze screenshot 1

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

The player must take control of Alice, as she makes her way through nine isometric stages. Alice is able to blow bubbles at enemies to knock them off the platforms and she can collect various powerups along the way. Holding the fire button down generates bigger bubbles, but if it is held down for too long, it will burst and she will start blowing a new one. The enemies retaliate by shooting marbles at her (which can cause her to fall over the edge of the platforms unless they are avoided or jumped over). The seventh, eighth and ninth stages are palette-swapped versions of the second, fourth and first ones respectively, but they feature different enemy types and bosses.

Story

One night, Alice falls asleep while reading a fairy tale picture book and is awaken by a call from within a wall mirror. A rabbit appears in the mirror and tells her that his country and eight other lands has been conquered by an evil witch known as the Queen of Darkness and Alice is the only one who has love and courage to restore peace. The girl is pulled inside the mirror world and given a magic straw to attack with soap bubbles. After the Queen is defeated, Alice wakes up thinking it was just a nightmare, but finds the phrase "Thanks [sic] you!" written on the mirror and on a cake.

Development

H. System, a very short-lived subsidiary of Namco. It was the first Japanese video game adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, predating games such as TwinBee Yahho! and Fushigi no Yume no Alice.

The word "märchen" is the German word for fairy tale. Character design was done by Katsuhiko Nishijima, who directed several well-regarded anime series such as Outlanders, Vampire Hunter D and Agent Aika. It is Namco's second video game to have a female protagonist, following Wonder Momo (1987). An English version of the game, titled Alice in Wonderland, is also known to exist.

Reception

Märchen Maze, notably the PC Engine release, received mostly mixed reviews — while critics praised its graphics and controls, many would criticize its difficulty for drastically spiking up later on and for its unimpressive boss fights.

The May 1991 issue of German magazine Play Time praised the PC Engine version's "well matched" graphics and amount of action, although would criticize the difficulty for being too hard, namely in the first stage. They also disliked the game's sound effects, jokingly stating that the player would likely instead want to turn on their stereo instead of listening to them. In a retrospective review, Kurt Kalata of Hardcore Gaming 101 liked the game's cute visuals and controls, although stated the game "ran out of steam midway through" for its drastic rise in difficulty and mediocre boss fights.

Releases by platformdates and regions as published

PlatformReleasedRegions
Arcade14 June 1988Japan
Sharp X6800031 December 1991Japan
Wii29 October 2009Japan

Editions and related releases

Ported as
Märchen MazeArcade Archives: Märchen Maze
Built on it
Märchen Maze

Games like this

Collections1 collection

Platform libraries

Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.